Since its establishment two years ago, the Red Bridge Gallery has been devoted to exploring and sifting Chinese contemporary art and trying to show traces of the cultural development: from the opening exhibition of Land of Warmth to the annual group exhibition of The New Interface Art; from hosting exhibitions for brilliant Chinese artists to making its presence at the art expos home and abroad; and from carrying on the Chinese traditions to keeping pace with the western concepts.

As is know to all, the Eastern and the Western cultures have been interactive for ages. The three decades after the Cultural Revolution (1956-1966) is a period when China tried to reexamine and recognize the Western arts. Led by the spirits of May 4th New Culture Movement, Chinese culture experienced a new process of learning and assimilation, as well as of re-creation. Now, in the unique Chinese cultural background, Chinese artists will start a new round of attempts and practices, which will surely become the focus of attention worldwide as China’s economy develops and the country’s international standing gets increasingly high. The market of Chinese contemporary art in the recent two years has already shown some hints of the tendency.

This seems simply a phenomenon in the economic realm. However, considering that the economic base determines the superstructure, we may conceive from the phenomenon a cultural revival, a new recovery of the Chinese culture with its five-thousand-year traditions. In retrospect, we are fully aware that the Chinese culture has long been in silence ever since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Yet in this new historical period, a new cultural phenomenon is surely to happen in China, taking root in the oriental traditions and enriching itself with other cultures of the world.

In blending of the Eastern and the Western arts, a new type of oriental culture is beginning to take shape.

The past two years have seen our efforts in cases study on the brilliant artists of the early generation as well as on the outstanding young artists who rose in the contemporary age. In the spirit of “taking in as many fine things as possible”, the early generation introduced and assimilated the Western modern and contemporary arts and made marvelous contributions to Chinese contemporary art from the very beginning. The result of such case studies more and more obviously indicates the potential for the oriental culture to revive and prosper in this special historical era that serves as a link between the past and the future.

Among the cases, the former refers to the “old” artists, including Liu Wei, Tang Zhigang, Mao Xuhui, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhou Chunya, Ye Yongqing, etc.; and the latter refers to artists of the younger generation such as Lou Shenyi, Huang Yuxing, Wang Guangle, Qin Qi, Shi Xinji, Lin Guocheng, Shu Yang, Po Shui, Xu Ke, Shang Yixin, He Wei, Zhang Jinxi, etc. Their artistic perception and temperament well implies the above-mentioned trend of changes.

Far more than that, such potentials of cultural revival and prosperity will inevitably take place in an all-around way rather than be confined to the field of art. The efforts we have made in exploring Chinese contemporary art happen to show such a tendency, though it has not come true yet. Let’s take our time to prove it in practices and this should be a choice of the wise, where lies joy and pleasure of idealists and purists. We now sincerely invite kindred spirits and other friends to join us in witnessing the significant process.

The Chinese Spring Festival is now around the corner. H&H space, the new site of the Red Bridge Gallery will be open in Shanghai Red-town International Culture&Art Center on Huaihai Road at the beginning of the new year. It covers an area of over 600 square meters with constructions of novel style and rich artistic atmosphere. With a new start, we will continue to focus on easel painting and sculpture exhibitions and to probe into other art forms at the same time, for instance, videos, installation, new media, etc., aiming to nurture artists of the younger generation and present new values of art through specific case studies.

When it comes to the mode of routine management, we try to learn from the operation of top-class western galleries on the one hand and adapt them to cater for the Chinese cultural situations on the other hand, aiming to create an applicable management mode for Chinese galleries.

In the days to come, we will carry on our long-held attitude of sincerity and preciseness. With the determination of pondering on the nature of art and with an aim to trace the development of Chinese contemporary art, we also take it as our mission to bring to light artists and their works, as well as to promote the acedemic studies on art. With the awareness of changes in art and developments in culture, we have been devoted to exploring the trend of development in Chinese contemporary art and making our bit of contribution to its development and internationalization.

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